V

V is a new character introduced in Devil May Cry 5. He is the game's third playable character.

Development
According to Hideaki Itsuno, new characters like V and Nico were the first designs they came up with in the early phase of the game's development. Feeling that DMC5 needed a new protagonist that was completely different from Dante and Nero, Itsuno wanted V to have a very different gameplay style that made players attack and defend separately, and experience a whole new gaming style. V's playstyle and how he fights was thought out before any other detail of the character. Itsuno acknowledged that V seems to be a "complex" character to players, but his style makes him a powerful character overall.

Itsuno stated in an interview that V caused the most trouble when creating Devil May Cry 5. There were times where the developers kept wondering if adding V was really necessary due to how difficult it was to develop him.

When creating V's character and story, it was a conscious decision to make V didn't necessarily have a specific relation to Dante and Nero. V's character was based on the game's setting, and the staff was satisfied in how V's inclusion achieved a balance with Dante and Nero.

Appearance
V is a tall, slender young man with pale skin and green eyes. He has chin-length, natural white hair with long bangs, but his pact with his demons turns his hair jet-black and covers his entire upper body and his neck in black tattoos.

V wears a long, open sleeveless leather coat with the sides tied together by strings and a sewn-in, corset-like vest in the front. He also wears black pants with a silver chain made up of skulls on the right side of his belt and a fingerless glove on his right hand. V sports many accessories, including a tooth pendant around his neck, silver ring on his left middle finger, and a plain leather bracelet and a spiked bracelet on his left wrist. Unlike most characters in the series, V wears black sandals instead of boots. V carries a silver cane, seemingly due to having a limp, and a brown, gold-embroidered book, containing poems by William Blake, with a large "V" insignia in the cover.

Personality
Currently what little is known about his personality, V is very fond of poetry, often recites lines when speaking to people to the point where Griffon calls him "Shakespeare", and has a dry sense of humor.

V is a man shrouded in mystery, possessing unknown motives and has knowledge about a powerful demon and his coming to the Human World.

For some reasons currently unknown, he appears to secretly resent Dante, wishing he never existed and even trying to supposedly kill him with Sparda. However, this was just a ploy by V to wake Dante up from his month long coma. V stated that he knew how stubborn Dante was, and he thought it would be the only way.

V used to be very prideful in the past and was the type be irritated at being called "dead weight".

Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare
Knowing Urizen's resurrection is nearing, V goes to go Grue's Celler to find J.D. Morrison in order to get into contact with Dante. Before entering the bar, V assaulted at random man with Griffon in order to obtain money to pay for Dante's services. Upon meeting Morrison, V ask to take him to Dante and hands him the bloodstained money. Although wary of V and Griffon, Morrison accepts the payment, especially wanting to avoid V and Griffon hurting more people to collect more cash, and takes them to Devil May Cry.

At the shop, V introduces himself to Dante and explains that he wants him to to stop a powerful demon that is about to resurrect in Red Grave City. While Dante is confident that V's job would be easy, V claims that Dante the demon is different from the others he fought before because the demon is Dante's "reason for fighting.

Unfortunately, Urizen has already completely resurrected and V is sent away by Dante. Unsure of the chances of his allies in defeating the true Demon King, V goes to Nero, whose arm had been ripped off earlier by Urizen and left in a coma, and asks him to help subdue Urizen.

Devil May Cry 5
V is also seeking Sparda's sword from Dante for unknown reasons and he even attempts to kill Dante saying that he should never had existed. However this was just a ploy by V to wake Dante up from his unconscious state, of which he had been in for a month. V stated that he knew how stubborn Dante was, and that it seemed like the only way.

Powers
Unlike Dante and Nero, V has very little demonic power and seemingly is a normal human, instead his abilities comes from his pact with his three demons and is capable of casting a huge variety of magic spells. One spell called "Royal Fork" creates many duplicates of his cane to attack many enemies at once. He can also teleport to an enemy to strike them with his cane directly. V also appears to be able to enter a state similar to Devil Trigger, which causes the black ink in his hair to disappear, revealing his natural white hair, and allows him to augment his familiars' strength and Nightmare from long distances.

Familiars
V has the ability to summon demons to fight on his behalf. When not called upon, the demons are embodied as tattoos on V's body and in his hair, turning it from white to black. When they are summoned, the corresponding tattoo to each demon will disappear and his hair turns back to its original color.

Griffon: This avian monstrosity can always be found somewhere around V, usually flapping its beak with some inappropriate jab. Griffon brings the thunder with electrified long-range attacks, or can give V a lift if close by. Griffon is the only one that knows human language and acts as the interpreter for Shadow and Nightmare so others can understand them.

Shadow: This demon familiar usually takes the form of a quadruped beast, only to shapeshift into blades, needles, and all manner of nasty weapons to act as vanguard. Through Shadow, V can also move at faster speeds than normal. V can also ride on Shadow as a form of transport.

Nightmare: V can unleash his full power to call upon this gargantuan demon. When summoned, Nightmare may crash onto the battlefield like a meteorite, or burst through parts of the environment to heed the call. Its sluggish movements belie unsurpassable strength and nigh-invulnerability. Wherever Nightmare appears, its massive fists or brutal laser beams are the last thing enemies ever see. In his normal size, Nightmare is 3.5 meters tall, but is capable growing even larger.

Gameplay
In terms of combat, V uses his cane and book with the letter "V" on it as weapons. He's also capable of summoning different types of demons that will aid him in the battle and casting a huge variation of spells. Due to his unique gameplay style, V described to be a "tricky" and strategic character to use in battle. When playing as V, he has shorter health bar than Dante and Nero and less knockback resistance, so maintaining a distance is key while his familiars are fighting and as long V doesn't take damage, the battle can continue. When quickly evading or attempting to ride on Shadow or fly with Griffon, V must have his familiars close to him or call them back to his position.

V's demons have their own health bar and can be strengthened and learn new abilities over the course of the game. However, V's familiars cannot kill other demons and V must land the finishing blow. When enemies are close to death, they will start to stagger and turn white with a violet glow, signalling for V to finished them off with his cane.

The demons are manually directed by V, but Griffon and Shadow can fight automatically, but having them fight automatically will use up V's D.T gauge. With Nightmare, summoning him consumes the D.T. gauge and it also decreases when Nightmare attacks. Due to Nightmare's slow movement, Nightmare essentially cannot transverse the ground very well and isn't ideal to use when surrounded by enemies when the D.T. gauge is low. Nightmare also fights automatically, but can be directly controlled by V when he climbs on his shoulder and pierces him with his cane. As long as Nightmare is controlled by V, V can kill enemies off using Nightmare. In very narrow spaces, Nightmare cannot fully emerge and will only stick out his head to fire his beams. Due to the many different summoning entrances when summoning Nightmare, secret passageways can be found when Nightmare burst through the environment.

If V takes too long to finish off enemies, the demons will regain partial health, forcing V to attack them again. The familiars can take damage and will revert to their core state after taking too much. In their core state, they cannot attack and cannot be summoned again for a certain amount of time. If Griffon and Shadow are in their core state, summoning Nightmare is a quick way to revive them. Another way to quickly revive the familiars from their core states is for V to stand close to them, the closer V is the faster the familiars can revive.

In order to fill V's D.T. gauge, V has to read his book and the closer V is to his opponents while reading, the faster the gauge will fill. However, V's movement will slow and leave him vulnerable to enemies.

Etymology
The letter "V" is the Roman numeral for the number "5", referencing V's appearance and importance in the fifth installment of the Devil May Cry series, Devil May Cry 5.

Trivia

 * Due to his likeness, many fans made the comparison between V and actor Adam Driver, particularly Driver's role as Kylo Ren from the Star Wars franchise. However, the character of V was being developed before Star Wars: The Force Awakens had been released.
 * Some sentences said by V are quoted directly from William Blake poems, such as "He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence." and "I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe, that made my love so high and me so low.". Additionally, one of Nico's tattoos also quotes a William Blake poem titled "Eternity".
 * At the New York Comic-Con 2018, Itsuno also stated that V was actually his favorite character.